Leadership Work
Port 100
Port 100 is a coworking community in downtown Geneva, NY, and where I did my Leads fieldwork. A cowork is a space where multiple different individuals and/or companies rent out office space, in an attempt to save costs. Ultimately, it results in an environment that facilitates collaboration and networking amongst members, which is not as easily accessible in the "traditional" office space.
I held an internship position at Port 100 from September 2019 through March 2020. I took leadership in multiple different projects. I began to manage their social media accounts. It was my goal to gain more traffic and engagement through accounts. Part of my attempt to do this was to create what I called "small business spotlights", in which I met with owners of small businesses within the Geneva community, took photos, and constructed posts to educate the community on the businesses and bring attention to them.
These are the local businesses that were featured on the social media pages throughout my time at Port 100. On top of the "small business spotlight" posts, I would regularly post on different events that were occurring at Port 100.
My next project within my internship was taking part in the execution of the Digital Marketing Accelerator. The Digital Marketing Accelerator is a hands-on interactive workshop designed to educate participants with the necessary skills to execute a real digital marketing campaign to benefit a local enterprise. Unfortunately, the accelerator had to be postponed due to Covid-19. My role within the execution of the accelerator consisted of drafting the program’s syllabus, summaries for marketing purposes, and business and community outreach emails.
My time at Port 100 was unfortunately cut short, but I am incredibly thankful for all that I learned through this experience.
America Reads Civic Leader
Throughout my four years at The Colleges, I have always been involved with America Reads. America Reads is a program where college students assist elementary school children with improving their reading and comprehension skills in surrounding school districts (Geneva and Lyons).
Fall 2019 and Spring 2020, I took on the role of being an America Reads coordinator. Through this position, I managed a group of tutors and students, creating individualized literacy activities, and selected books from the CCESL "book nook" to enhance students' skills. Weekly I met with CCESL (Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning) Assistant Director, Amy Jackson, to discuss progress and areas in need of improvement. Monthly, there were development workshops and seminars to grow coordinator and tutors skills to effectively assist student learning. Being an America Reads coordinator made me a CCESL Civic Leader. With this, came other responsibilities such as attending designated events and workshops that expand my knowledge on civic engagement.
Through this leadership experience, I learned the extremely valuable skills of cooperation and conflict resolution. Working with students has many amazing aspects, but it also comes with many challenges, resulting in my ability to at the moment facilitate engagement with the student and solve a conflict that arises. My involvement in America Reads exposed me to a variety of personalities, behaviors, and needs, teaching me how to effectively work with all types of people.
My experience with America Reads was incredibly rewarding, and I will miss being part of the program when I graduate from the Colleges.
Administering an America Reads tutor training session
End of the semester CCESL Civic Leader
waffle party
America Reads booth at the
Geneva Book Fest
Big Brother Big Sister Civic Leader
My "Little" and I
Since December 2017, I have been a Big Brother Big Sister "Big". Big Brother Big Sister matches children ages 6 through 18 with mentors in professionally supported one-to-one relationships. Every week, I meet with my "Little" for a few hours and partake in fun activities that we both enjoy doing (you can see a few of our many activities below).
During the 2019/2020 school year, I took on the position of being the CCESL (Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning) Big Brother Big Sister Civic Leader. Through this position, I was the student liaison for all “Bigs” on campus. I actively worked to recruit new “Bigs” to the program through attending involvement expos and holding interest meetings. I regularly met with students interested to explain more about the program and to give them the paperwork they needed to get the process, of becoming a "Big", going. I also coordinated monthly match events. Some events we had this year consisted of a pumpkin carving party and a pizza-making party. I met weekly with the CCESL Director, Katie Flowers to discuss progress and brainstorm recruitment methods. I was in frequent contact with Krista Schrader, the BBBS Community Match Specialist from Rochester, New York, who matches "Bigs" and "Littles" and is also the liason for all current matches.
I expected to be modeling behavior and teaching my "Little" things about life, but she has equally opened my eyes to different aspects of life and myself. I have grown as a person, and have become more reflective, making sure my behaviors match my values. I have looked into parts of myself that I have never taken the time to, or given attention to. Being a "Big" continuously facilitates my own personal growth, as well as the growth of my "Little".
Kayaking on Seneca Lake
Doing Henna tattoos
Tye-dying t-shirts
Painting canvases
Thai rolled ice cream
BBBS on campus event-Valentines Day party